My husband and i will be going on the Germany, Austria & Switzerland tour in September and are wondering if our Consumer Cellular cell service will provide us good service. In our past trips we have had issues.
Posted by
Bay Harbor Islands , Florida
7 posts
You'll need to ask for international SIM cards, which can be a bit convoluted. We ended up buying local SIM cards, and upon returning, we signed with T Mobile, which is Vodafone in Europe. The service is great, and so are the costs. Consumer Cellular is great for US only.
Posted by
Cape Ann, Massachusetts
3459 posts
I made the exact change that Maggie did in 2023 as Consumer Cellular service was extremely rare at best and complaints were ramped. I imagine they lose many customers due to this. However, I have seen some mention that they have improved their service, so maybe do some research on present day coverage. CC is such a good company in the US, it's a shame they aren't/weren't worthwhile in Europe. That being said, I'm extremely happy with T mobile and their service overseas. I've tested them in rural and Madrid, Spain, Paris and some rural France, and London.
Posted by
Northern Minnesota
852 posts
Blockquote
You'll need to ask for international SIM cards, which can be a bit convoluted
All we have had to do the last couple trips was call CC to turn on international roaming.
Posted by
AZ 🌵
3384 posts
Here’s a. Link to several threads in the past 6 months about Consumer Cellular. I use Verizon so don’t have CC experience. https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=6m&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Consumer+cellular
Posted by
Arlington TX
812 posts
Debbie, use the link in the Other Kathy’s reply and you will read about my positive experience with Consumer Cellular during my trip to Italy this year. It may help your decision. I plan on using them in Oct when I go to France.
Posted by
OP
Maryville, IL
2 posts
Thank you everyone for your replies and helpful info!
Posted by
Los Angeles
1719 posts
All we have had to do the last couple trips was call CC to turn on international roaming.
Once you set it up the first time, it's always available - you should be able to see it in your account profile.. No need to have them turn it on each time. It's worked perfectly for me in recent trips to Italy, Poland, Budapest & Vienna, plus airports in Munich and Ansterdam.
Posted by
Racine, WI
75 posts
I was just in Germany and Austria with my son. We had no issues with Consumer Cellular. In your settings, make sure "Allow 2G Service" is set to ON as some of the smaller towns needed that get service.
In my opinion it worked great, even allowing me to quickly call my doctor at home when I ran into a foolish self induced health issue! (Long story.)
Data in Germany is cheap. In Austria it was more expensive. We left cellular data off until we needed it. It worked out quite well.
Can't speak to Switzerland, as we weren't there.
You do need to call CC ahead of time to set up dates for roaming. Since I travel for a living I have my end date as infinite, which they easily accommodated.